This couldn’t be easier, especially if you use fresh pesto (you can use the recipe below if you’ve lots of basil growing). Perfect for a late summer lunch.
Wine Suggestion: We find we gravitate to dry rosé quite often during summer as the good ones tend to refresh and revive us in the warmth and also complement summer foods. Today it was the Château St Jacques d’Albas Chapelle en Rose, predominantly Grenache and Mourvedre but with a touch of Roussanne from Minervois. Excellent.
Tomato Tart with Pesto & Mascarpone – serves 4
- 1 ready-rolled puff pastry sheet
- 6-8 ripe vine tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp pesto (see recipe below)
- 2 tbsp mascarpone
- green salad leaves, to serve
Heat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6.
Unroll the pastry on to a baking sheet (it usually rolls out easier if you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes before using). Score a border 1cm from the edge and prick inside the border with a fork. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
Gently squash down the middle of the pastry. Spread the pesto inside the border, dot over the mascarpone, then layer the tomato on top. Season well and bake for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked and the mascarpone has melted.
Decorate with some fresh basil leaves and serve some dressed salad leaves.
(Original recipe by Paula Stain in BBC Olive Magazine, August 2005.)
To make pesto:
Put a large bunch of fresh basil leaves (minimum 50g) into a food processor with 2 peeled garlic cloves, 25g of toasted pine nuts and 3 tbsp of olive oil. Blend to a paste, then slowly add 125ml through the feeder tube. Transfer to a bowl and fold in 50g of freshly grated Parmesan, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep refrigerated in a clean jam jar covered with a layer of olive oil until needed.
Jono & Jules do food & wine 
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